Do I Need to Feed My Gonipora?

[jbrock183]

I have a beautiful gonipora that isn’t looking so good suddenly. Everything else is thriving (polys, zoas, bubble top anenomies, Xenia) and all fish. Do I need to feed him? After and before pics below.

 

[rishma]

Seems like a good question for the LPS forum?

Gonipora are notoriously difficult. Some strains do well that have been in captivity for generations. Wild caught ones are often challenging for experienced keepers

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a beautiful gonipora that isn’t looking so good suddenly. Everything else is thriving (polys, zoas, bubble top anenomies, Xenia) and all fish. Do I need to feed him? After and before pics below.

Yes and also add amino acid and manganese occasionally, Some foods are reef roids, brine shrimp and fish eggs

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Give it good random flow, IME they don’t do well in low flow areas

 

[buttonreefer]

I have a beautiful gonipora that isn’t looking so good suddenly. Everything else is thriving (polys, zoas, bubble top anenomies, Xenia) and all fish. Do I need to feed him? After and before pics below.

Yes! 100%! One of the reasons they commonly die are because of feeding neglect. Mine thrive with Mg and Reef Roids. Also make sure it is getting good flow, looks pretty low over there.

 

[jbrock183]

Yes! 100%! One of the reasons they commonly die are because of feeding neglect. Mine thrive with Mg and Reef Roids. Also make sure it is getting good flow, looks pretty low over there.

What is Mg?

 

[buttonreefer]

Magnesium is the element that essentially makes reefing possible. Magnesium is used by corals for metabolic function to stay healthy and grow. You don't dose it regularly, its just a supplement. (Similar to Manganese or amino acids, which are good and beneficial but not necessary). It does have specific parameters like calcium and alk, so be careful. I feed mine every week 3 times a week with reef roids, target and broadcast.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i dose manganese for mine everyday besides the coral snow

 

[rishma]

Not disputing any advice given, but will share a little experience. My manganese tends to be on the low side. I use all-for-reef to provide trace but no other supplemental trace elements. Magnesium stays around 1350 per ICP, I just dose based on RMM. I broadcast feed a little coral food daily, but maybe not enough to really feed to corals a meaningful amount of particulate food. I target feed on occasion, maybe once a month.

 

[VintageReefer]

I don’t target feed any of my goni

I do add manganese daily. I feel that’s important.

I have tried all sorts of products to target feed. Reef roids, copepods, plankton, aminos, caviar, oyster eggs, benereef. I get zero feeding response so I stopped.

Light flow and manganese seem to be the key

 

[Koty]

IMO you should Carbon dose and amino acids if your nitrates are low.

 

[Reefer911]

@VintageReefer by what method do you dose Mn daily? Manually or via doser?

 

[VintageReefer]

@VintageReefer by what method do you dose Mn daily? Manually or via doser?

I manually squirt .9ml in a day in front of a mp40

I use moonshiners brand. It’s 20$ and shipping is a whopping 15$. So I think if it as a 45$ product that comes in bottle with a syringe.

500ml / .9ml a day = 500+ days of dosing. Yea. I’m fine paying the 45$

 

[Reefer911]

I manually squirt .9ml in a day in front of a mp40

I use moonshiners brand. It’s 20$ and shipping is a whopping 15$. So I think if it as a 45$ product that comes in bottle with a syringe.

500ml / .9ml a day = 500+ days of dosing. Yea. I’m fine paying the 45$

Yeah I’d be ok with that too but I’d have to put it on a doser for when I travel or forget to dose (more likely)

 

[VintageReefer]

Yeah I’d be ok with that too but I’d have to put it on a doser for when I travel or forget to dose (more likely)

I get it but I can’t see myself connecting a doser for a few drops.

I would probably dose 3x if i was going to be gone for 5-6 days.

I will mention I grew a lot of these for months without dosing at all. I feel I get better extension and faster growth. But I certainly was not losing Goni without dosing. I have also missed a day or two here and there, I just do a double dose to make up for it

 

[rishma]

I get it but I can’t see myself connecting a doser for a few drops.

I would probably dose 3x if i was going to be gone for 5-6 days.

I will mention I grew a lot of these for months without dosing at all. I feel I get better extension and faster growth. But I certainly was not losing Goni without dosing. I have also missed a day or two here and there, I just do a double dose to make up for it

Do you know or you manganese levels?

 

[VintageReefer]

Do you know or you manganese levels?

Last I checked I was zero lol
That was with dosing .4ml a day
Icp came back zero/undetectable

Moonshiners calculation had a section I didn’t see. The fine print nobody reads lol

At first it told me .3ml a day. I know im
Goni heavy so I did .4. For 2 months. And icp came back zero.

Then when I did the spreadsheet again I noticed the fine print. Add another X for macro algae and add another X if corsl heavy or something like that. So my real dose was supposed to be .9 ml as an estimate. So now I’m doing .9 and will get another icp and see if it shows up

 

[rishma]

Last I checked I was zero lol
That was with dosing .4ml a day
Icp came back zero/undetectable

Moonshiners calculation had a section I didn’t see. The fine print nobody reads lol

At first it told me .3ml a day. I know im
Goni heavy so I did .4. For 2 months. And icp came back zero.

Then when I did the spreadsheet again I noticed the fine print. Add another X for macro algae and add another X if corsl heavy or something like that. So my real dose was supposed to be .9 ml as an estimate. So now I’m doing .9 and will get another icp and see if it shows up

Mn is the one trace I’ve considered doing separately, though my last ICP shows its 0.36 µg/l. Low but at least detectable. I know it often gets depleted quickly so I’d have to do a couple ICPs to gauge my dose.

 

[VintageReefer]

Mn is the one trace I’ve considered doing separately, though my last ICP shows its 0.36 µg/l. Low but at least detectable. I know it often gets depleted quickly so I’d have to do a couple ICPs to gauge my dose.

I believe .9- 1 ug/l is target range but my understanding is anything readable is ok because that means it’s in the water and not depleted.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Magnesium is the element that essentially makes reefing possible. Magnesium is used by corals for metabolic function to stay healthy and grow. You don't dose it regularly, its just a supplement. (Similar to Manganese or amino acids, which are good and beneficial but not necessary). It does have specific parameters like calcium and alk, so be careful. I feed mine every week 3 times a week with reef roids, target and broadcast.

I presumed you actually meant Mn (manganese), not Mg (magneisum) in your first post. But when you repeated it I understood you to mean magnesium.

I've not heard that gonipora have any special sensitivity to magnesium levels. Is that what you are suggesting? What's the basis for it?